Sunday, May 5, 2013

Last year in May, we celebrated by going back to the island we lived on for 2 years. The island of Saba.

I guess because it is that time of year, I just keep wishing we were going back there again.

I was hoping there was plans to go; but unfortunately that can only be a dream this year.

We bought a house instead.

I do go to sleep each night dreaming about our awesome vacation.

I realized that last year, I never even blogged about our trip. Once we got home from Saba, we moved 6 days later. Needless to say life was a little turned upside down.

In honor of all those memories that fill my dreams and celebrating 14 years of marriage I am dedicating this week to that beautiful island.

I plan to share several posts this week all about our vacation, our life there, and lessons learned.

I realized that I don’t share much about that part of our life here, and it was such a monumental part of our life and should be recorded.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip last May; mixed in with WAY to many pictures.

It was 6 years previous that we left the island and moved back to the US. I couldn’t wait to get back to island life.

I got butterflies in my stomach again as we boarded the 19 seater airplane and flew over the ocean. I felt the warmth of home flood my soul as the tires came to a screeching stop on the shortest commercial runway in the world. We were home!! A week long vacation at home.

We both enjoyed hiking. Saba is known for it’s hiking trails. I think you can tell from the photos how beautiful the hikes are. When we lived there we didn't have much time to hike. We had two little people with us, and Jonathan did lots of studying. It was nice to hike some of the trails we had never seen.

We enjoyed our favorite refreshing beverage again, and even brought a case of it home in a suitcase.

Ting is a delicious grapefruit drink found in the Caribbean. I recently found one lone Ting hanging out on the shelf at Walmart. So strange; but so wonderful.

Along with Ting, we also enjoyed eating at some of our favorite restaurants. This delicious meal comes from the Rainforest Café. It requires a short hike to arrive and all the produce comes straight out of their garden. YUM!

Jonathan’s favorite burger in the world.

We have to come back to Saba just to get it.

We enjoyed sticking our feet in the sand.

Saba has only one beach and it is wandering. Wandering means it comes and goes with the tide. It was not there when we were on vacation.

However, we did find a little spot of sand when we hiked down to the water.

It was so nice to feel the spray of the ocean again.

We enjoyed getting reacquainted with the bug life on Saba; tree frogs, slugs, and lizards.

More then anything it was the beauty of the island that just mesmerizes you.

I couldn’t help but walk around and snap some pictures of it’s beauty.

Every home on Saba looks similar.

They each are painted white, with green or red shutters and a red roof. It adds to the charm.

We also enjoyed quietly reading in such a peaceful place. Saba is so peaceful, it was nice to get away from the hub-bub of life.

More then anything, I enjoyed hanging out with Jonathan. Taking this trip was a good reminder of our commitment to each other.

It was such a beautiful trip full of reminders of how far we have come, and how we have done it together.

I edited this pictures as a symbol of that. This is Jonathan on our trip sporting his shades.

This is the edited version.

I added the pictures in the lens’s. The picture on the left lens is just a few days before he started medical school on Saba. The picture on the right lens is of him on our trip back at the end of his residency. He had come a long way in those eight years, and now it is nine. The sunglasses symbolize looking to the future.

I love you Jonathan. Wish we were on Saba right now drinking a cold cold Ting.

I recently framed some of these photos for our house. I made this one to remind me of this journey we have taken together.

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I am Andrea & I blog here. Photographs & words are among my two favorite things in the world. I share them here as a reminder of life's great blessings; my family, my faith, a beautiful world to live in, & moments shared with those I love. More than anything, I want to share my REAL life. I promise to stay true to myself, & share how life really goes around here.If you want to keep up with what I am doing regularly please follow me on Instagram @valleyviewabodeWe just finished building our dream home, & I am sharing all sorts of beautiful home ideas there. I am trying to keep up with some of it here, but it doesn't translate here as fast as I would like. So follow along & see what we are up too, & I promise to keep sharing here too!